Field of the Art
The disclosure relates to the field of electronic devices, and more particularly to the field of wireless handheld controllers for interacting with host devices.
Discussion of the State of the Art
In the field of electronic devices, separate handheld controllers are commonly used to enable a user to provide interaction or receive feedback from a host device, such as a personal computer or a video gaming console. These controllers may be connected via a wired or a wireless connection, and generally are paired with only a single host device at any given time. When a user wishes to utilize multiple controllers, they must be connected individually to the host device (for example, connecting both a keyboard and a mouse to a personal computer, using two separate ports on the computer). This requires a number of separate communication connections between a host device and controllers, and if a host device or controller have mismatched communication hardware, they are incompatible and cannot be used. Additionally, controllers generally are designed for a particular purpose (such as for a particular type of video game or computer application), and require a user to interact with them in a specific fashion, such as to hold the controller in a particular manner to have manual access to all of its functions. This can be awkward or even unhealthy for the user, and restrictive of the manner with which they interact with the device.
What is needed, is a means to enable users to connect a variety of controllers to a host device regardless of their communication means, that also addresses the need for controllers that a user may interact with in a customizable fashion to enhance ergonomics as well as improve the quality of interaction.